Commutator.



"UNITED da@ FTENT FJFIQE,

JOSEPH F. PARKER, OF MOBILE, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR, EY 'DIRECT AND IVIESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, T0 UNIVERSAL COFIMUTATQR COLVILANY, INC., il. CORPRATION OF ALA- BAMA.

COMMTATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Application led July 21, 1915. Serial No. 41,127'.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH F. PARKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mobile, in the county of Mobileand State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Commutators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in commutators, and has for an object to provide an improved commutator for internal combustion engines which will insure good contact and will consist of few and simple parts, readily assembled and easily accessible for removal, 'repair and replacement.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying dra-wings forming a part of this application, and in which similar reference symbols indicate correspond` ing parts in the several views: Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 1-1 in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a central sectional view taken on the line 2 2 in Fig. 3; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line '3 3 in Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates a cam shaft or other shaft arranged to be driven from the internal combustion engine, and over which is mounted a casing 2 for inelosing the various parts of the improved commutator.

On the cam or other shaft 1 is fixed a collar 3 provided with an eccentric wrist pin 4, on which is loosely journaled a gear wheel 5. The teeth on the gear wheel 5 engage complementa-1 teeth on an internal gear 6 mounted within the casing 2, and over which the gear wheel 5 is adapted to roll as the cam shaft 1 is rotated. Adjacent the internal gear 6, in the casing2, is also located a ring 7 of insulating material, wherein are embedded a plurality of contact plates 8 corresponding in number kto the number of cylinders of the engine. The contact plates 8 are here shown to be four in number, and

are supported flush with the inner surface,A of the insulating ring 7 by the binding post f screws 9. On the screws 9 are threaded the usual nuts 10 and 11, between which the lleads to the sparking devices are clamped.

A drum 12 is secured in any suitable manw ner to the gear wheel 5, and is provided with a slotted rim for slidably receiving contact blocks 13, supported on the outer free -ends of flat springs 15, secured by rivets or Acontact blocks 13 through the metallic springs 15 and drum 12 tothe cam shaft 1, or other circuit connections may be employed to complete the circuit, as may be found desirable or necessary in practice.

The casing 2, as disclosed in Fig. 1, is provided with the usual arm 17 for connection by the spark control lever for shifting said casing in a manner and for a purpose well understood.

The gear wheel 5 and internal rack 6 are arranged to be so proportioned relatively, that the gear wheel 5 will include a number of teeth extending over onethird of its periphery corresponding to the number of teeth embraced within a quarter of the internal rack 7. This arrangement will operate to bring the three contact blocks 13 shown, successively into engagement with the four contact plates 3; said blocks 13 being yieldingly pressed against the plates by the flat springs 15, as shown in Fig. 3, and which will insure a good contact even after the contact blocks have been worn away to a great extent. j

It is obviousthat those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention, and ltherefore I do not wish to be limited to such features except as may be required by the claims.

I claim:

1. An improved commutator of the charaoter described comprising an inclosing casing, an internal gear in said casing, an insulating ring mounted adjacent said internal gear, fixed contact plates embedded in said ring and in electrical connection with the sparking devices, a gear wheel eccentrically mounted on the engine cam shaft and meshing with said internal gear, a drum secured to rotate with said gear wheel and in electrical connection with the cam shaft, a plurality of contact blocks carried by said drum and adapted to successively engage said contact plates, and springs for yieldingly supportingsaid contact blocks, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a shaft arranged to be driven from the engine, of a casing mounted over said shaft, a wrist pin eccentrically on said shaft7 a gear wheel journaled to rotate freely on said wrist pin, an internal gear mounted in said casing and in mesh with said gear wheel, an insulating ring in said casing adjacent said internal gear, contact plat-es carried by said insulating ring, a drum mounted to rotate with said gear wheel and provided with a slotted rim, a plurality of contact blocks mounted to slide in the slots in the rim of said drum and successively engage said contact plates, and springs for yieldingly supporting said contact blocks, substantially as described.

3. The combination with an engine driven shaft, and an eccentric wrist pin carried thereby, of a casing fitted over said shaft, an internal gear within said casing, an insulating ring mounted within said casing to one side of said internal gear and coaxial therewith, contact plates mounted in said insulating ring and connected in circuit with the engine cylinders, a gear wheel mounted to revolve freely on said wrist pin and arranged to roll in engagement with said internal gear, a drum secured to one end of said gear wheel and concentric with the insulating ring, and a plurality of yielding contact blocks carried by said drum and arranged to successively engage said contact plates as t-he same is revolved, substantially as described.

4. The combination with an engine driven shaft, and an eccentric wrist pin carried thereby, of a commutator casing fitted over the en d of said shaft, an internal gear mounted within said casing, an insulating ring also mounted within said casing to one side and coaxial with said internal gear, a plurality of contact plates embedded in said insulating' ring and connected in circuit with the engine cylinders, a gear wheel of lesser diameter than said internal gear and mounted in rolling engagement with the same on said wrist pin, a hollow drum secured to one face of said gear wheel and concentric with said insulating ring, said drum being provided with slots therein, a plurality of contact blocks slidably mounted in the slots in said drum and adapted to successively engage said contact plates as the drum is revolved, and flat springs secured to the interior of said drum and carrying said contact blocks on their outer free ends, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

JOSEPH F. PARKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

